Work with a licensed dealer!
Guns and firearms are nothing to mess around with. That’s why here at SSL Firearms we take the buying and selling of guns extremely seriously. Many people who aren’t familiar with the industry worry about the legality of selling or liquidating surplus guns or unwanted firearms. Rightfully so, they don’t want them to end up in the wrong hands. Additionally, many people are concerned about selling online, since there can be even more uncertainty as there isn’t a face to face transaction with the buyer. SSL has taken many steps to make the firearm auction process as safe and secure as possible. The easiest way for you to legally liquidate surplus guns is to work with a licensed firearms dealer such as SSL Firearms! We want to make sure that you understand the buying process so that you can feel comfortable selling with us. Read on to learn about the safety in firearm and gun sales so that you can confidently and legally sell a gun with SSL Firearms.
First things first, Federal law requires online auction sites as well as gun stores and other retailers to have a Federal Firearms License (FFL). A FFL essentialy grants an individual or company the ability to legally sell or transfer firearms. This license is gained form the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. The bureau defines a FFL as “An individual who is licensed to engage in the business of manufacturing, importing and/or dealing in firearms. Persons must be licensed by ATF to engage in the business of firearms.” There are multiple types of licenses depending on what the FFL will be used for. Here at SSL Firearms we have a Type 1 Standard FFL, giving us the authority as a “dealer in firearms other than destructive devices.” Refer to the infographic on the ATF’s website for further types of FFLs. The process of obtaining a FFL begins by completing an application for a FFL. After the application has been processed and reviewed a background check is completed for all Responsible Persons identified in the application. Next, an Industry Operations Investigator will conduct an in-person interview and will decide whether to make a recommendation for the individual/company to grant you a FFL (assuming that the background check has passed and the individual/company is following state and local laws). If you would like more information about the process learn more here.
Besides having set regulations for our own company that provide us with the legal ability liquidate surplus guns, we have standard procedures for buyers to conduct as well. To start, individuals looking to purchase handguns must be 21 years of age or old. Buyers interested in bidding on long guns must by 18 years of age or older. In general, all buyers must comply with all state and federal restrictions to be able to participate in and buy one of the firearms in our auctions. You can see the state and federal restrictions on our resources page. Last but not least, if a buyer does NOT have a Michigan Concealed Pistol License (CPL) they must pass a NICS background check at the time of the gun transfer. If an individual does not pass the background check they will be charged a 20% fee of the gun that they won and will be ineligible to bid on firearms in future auctions. If an individual has any questions about their eligibility to participate in one of our online auction please contact us here and we will be more than happy to help!
Once an individual has won a firearm in one of our auctions, only the person whose name is on the invoice will be able to come to our facility and pick it up. It is illegal for a friend or family member to pick up a gun for someone else. Because they will not have been verified it would be considered an illegal firearm purchase which is a federal crime that can result in a 10 year jail sentence and fine of up to $250,000. If a buyer lives out of state and is unable to come in person, we will work with them to find a FFL dealer near them that we will ship the gun to so that the transfer will be legal.
While this isn’t necessarily a safety precaution on our end, we have conducted several Michigan police auctions, working with departments across the state to sell police seized weapons to law abiding citizens. We are honored that these department trust our abilities and services to bring them the highest sales on these weapons so that the funds can go back into the departments. So, if an individual is concerned about the safety of our company, they can remember that if the police trust us, that they can too!
If you are looking to sell any number of firearms or guns, contact us to get started with the process. The safety regulations that we have in place are designated so that our entire process is legal and that our buyers and seller can put their full trust in us when conducting firearm sales. We understand that an individual may have more questions surrounding the safety of our process, so please feel free to contact us so that we can help you in any way we can! We hope we have be able to answer your question ‘how to legally sell a gun!’
